Chip makers have since followed the cherished rule by shrinking and adding
transistors. The practice yields a higher clock speed, which measures the
number of instructions a microprocessor can execute each second.

But the focus on dual- and multi-core means the traditional method of
boosting computer performance is no longer worthwhile. Putting more of
these smaller transistors on a chip has led to excessive power use and
current leakage problems in recent years. Running an overheated
microprocessor can cause a computer system meltdown. Yet no cooling method
is cheap enough to justify keeping up with Moore’s Law.

“The engineers got to the point where they couldn’t put more transistors and
make them run faster,” says Dean McCarron, principal analyst at chip
consultancy Mercury Research.